Tweeting abortion trivializes life

Would it be OK with you if SOMEONE ELSE decided FOR YOU to terminate your life?
Posted by: jpalumbo201

If my continued existence required the use of someone else's body as a host, then yes, that host should have the right to say, "I don't want to do this anymore - you have to go."

You are exactly right! There is nothing more sacred or valuable than human life, and no one said there is only value if you are young and healthy. Do you not realize the slippery slope we are on when we decide to place value on life based on utility? Would it be OK with you if SOMEONE ELSE decided FOR YOU to terminate your life? Maybe it would be, but for most people, no one should decide if they live or die. No one should have a "right" to kill anyone.

There is nothing at all frustrating about knowing life begins at conception and ends at natural death, and I believe no one has the right to end life at any time, under any circumstances.Posted by: jpalumbo201

I also believe that I should have the right to be prescribed a deliberate overdose if I am terminally ill and wish to die before becoming debilitated. I guess you don't think I should have the right to take my own life either.

There is nothing at all frustrating about knowing life begins at conception and ends at natural death, and I believe no one has the right to end life at any time, under any circumstances. Knowing the truth is very empowering, not frustrating. Why is it you cannot address the life of the unborn child? Do you know the baby's heartbeat begins around the 4th week after conception? Do you know the baby has a human face at 7 weeks after conception? Based on science alone, without any religious involvement, it is most evident that a heartbeat at 24 days old is a human life, and to end that life is murder. Are you able to dispute that???

It probably feels very frustrating that the teachings of your religion on what constitutes life, when it begins, and who is allowed to end it and for what reasons, but do you at least understand why nobody in the USA is allowed the power to enforce their religious teachings on these matters over others? Do you at least understand why we cannot just decree your religious views to be the "official" ones that have the added weight of law?

to Cobalt_blue, while I appreciate you not completely attacking me for my comments, what about the "violent oppression" forced upon the baby in the process of growing and developing within her mother's womb??...Bearing children and RAISING them are two different and sometimes separate things..if one is unable to raise a child, there are many infertile couples trying to adopt..I cannot respect "moral autonomy" if it involves the murder of unborn children who have no voice (yet!) to oppose being killed, whether for convenience or out of selfishness...how can a mother think killing her child is a better decision than sacrificing 9 months of her ENTIRE LIFE for the sake of her unborn baby, and then offer the child to a couple through adoption?..you never mention the rights of the unborn children to live, and I wonder why not...It's not about "moral maturity", it's about TRUTH....and there is no denying the TRUTH that if a woman is pregnant, then human life, or a BABY, is alive within her, and abortion is the ending of human life, which is murder...I believe God in His infinite wisdom planned for the marital embrace (which we pro-lifers like to use for intercourse) to be within the context of marriage, which has the likelihood of children then being valued, instead of pregnancy out of marriage, which is far more likely to be unplanned and unwanted...while I acknowledge the cases of pregnancy occurring under bad conditions, even those children have the same right to be born and live.

jpalumbo201:

I respect the way you feel so much that I would never ever condone anybody forcing you to get an abortion. It goes so far against your own personal convictions that I would consider it an act of violent oppression against you as a fellow morally-mature and free person.

It's a pity that you do not think of other women are as being morally-mature enough to decide whether they give their body over to a pregnancy. It's a pity that you think they can be trusted with children, but not the choice of whether to bear them. It's a pity that you cannot respect my moral autonomy as much as I can respect yours, even though I disagree with you just as strongly.

To Julie33, saying,"keep your beliefs off my body and I'll keep mine off yours", you are so obviously neglecting to acknowledge that it is not YOUR heart that is stopped with abortion, and it is not YOUR body parts torn apart and discarded like trash, and it is not YOUR breath forever extinguished in abortion...so in actuality, it is not YOUR BODY AT ALL affected by our beliefs in the right to life for all...abortion is legalized murder---a woman is pregnant from the MOMENT OF CONCEPTION with a HUMAN CHILD---or else she wouldn't be pregnant now, would she?..after the child is ripped from her body, she no longer has human life within her, so is NOT pregnant...that "human life" has just as much a right to be here as you and me!...not that you would care what the Bible says, but I believe it says before we were formed in our mother's womb, God knew us..just because abortion is legal does not make it moral or right..women who have had abortions are probably too proud to acknowledge the horror of what they have done, and think denial of wrong or justifying their actions makes it OK...guess what?...murder of the unborn children is NEVER OK!!!...just as the taking of your life would never be moral or right, neither is taking the life of the most precious and innocent in our society--the unborn.

COBALT_BLUE, I am with you.

I respect their right to choose BUT the fact that these people who seem to care so much about fetuses should mean they are the first standing in line to adopt a baby.

But, even the ones that once gave their babies up for adoption, don't adopt. I really can't understand how that works.

The only thing I know is, they don't really care about women, children, the environment or anything that is really precious. They care about a bunch of cells that feel no pain, has no conscience.

I don't believe life begins at the conception - even the bible is not clear about it. If life began at the conception, you add the months you were in your mother's womb in your age. If life began at the conception, we would have to start investigating all the pregnant women that had a miscarriage - they might be directly responsible for the death of a "human being" or neglected her baby. I don't know if these people realize how stupid they sound.

The bottom line is: "Keep your beliefs off my body, and I’ll keep mine off yours."

Also! The people who can't imagine when life begins other than at conception are in line neither with modern obstetrics nor with their own holy texts.

The Bible pretty clearly defines life at first breath. In fact, the word "spirit" in Hebrew is actually the same word for "breath."

Obstetrics classifies the beginning of a pregnancy as being at implantation, which is when the woman's body acknowledges ITSELF pregnant and starts to adjust accordingly.

Pick Scripture, or pick science. Neither of them teaches that life begins at conception.

One should not give much more credence to the abortion thugs any more than they do to any other killer. They have no science to talk about - just their politics and their own precious convenience. It's selfishness gone completely mad. I have sympathy for those who have sympathy for their victims. But nobody should be surprised that there are many who still appreciate the rush of killing, and doing so without any legal repercussions for them. (although, breast cancer may come and equal the score)

Thugs are people who are AOK with killing someone because they are inconvenient. That includes anyone they created themselves and and their own children. Nazi medicine has made a comeback. And that was thuggery legalized.

Notice how the fathers, their own children, and the future children needlessly born preterm with cerebral palsy don't factor even into this author's consideration of the topic. They are obsessed instead with the well being of the person deciding to kill for their own convenience instead.

50 million killed and counting. And we wonder why medicare and social security are going bankrupt!

Abortionists are the concentration camp guards and slave owners of today. Against slavery? Don't own one and mind your own business, right?

What a relief that we are back on our way in this country toward human rights and away from the medicine of Hitler and Dr. Mengele.

I'm with Julie33. I am far too pro-adoption to ever bear my own children. If that means I terminate every pregnancy in my body so that I can raise the children who are present and already in need, so be it.

I'm confused by the desire to have one's "own" (I'm resisting using the term "real children," but that seems to be the implication a lot of people are making) children. Do people think they couldn't love an adopted child as much as one that shared their genes? If so, couldn't that be seen as a failure of empathy and compassion?

However, I don't have to understand the choices other women make to bear children. I'm pro-choice, which means that I'm not asking anybody to capitulate to my opinion. I may disapprove on a personal level with the choice to deliberately conceive and bear a child, but being pro-choice means that I'm not demanding anybody obey the commands of a conscience they clearly don't share.

Most people who are pro-choice are actually not pro-abortion. I am, though, because adoption should be a FIRST choice, not a last resort.

My mother had every reason to abort me, and the fact that she had THE CHOICE means I know that I wasn't some religious zealot's idea of a punishment for marrying the wrong man, or a trap for a woman uppity enough to think she deserved a career outside her "proper" role as a mother. I wasn't a punishment. I wasn't a trap. I was WANTED. I know that because she had the choice. I see no problem with this.

If another living creature is inside my body, dependent on the food I eat and the air I breathe for its survival, then I get to decide if it stays there or not, regardless of what species it is or how it got inside me.

"I was able to preserve my fertility, and now am married with three awesome kids. I never had any complications with my pregnancies or my labors."

I would think that after delivering 3 children, giving 2 of them away, you would do for others what one day someone did for you. I assume that now that you are married, you are in a better position to do that. But, instead of giving back (which is what I assume Christianity is all about), YOU chose to get pregnant again and bring children into this world because of a self-serving desire? I don't even think overpopulation is an issue for people like you - so, let's skip this conversation.

It is funny to hear that from you. I know that many anti-choicers don't even bother to adopt, they care more about the unborn than about the actual children - the ones that are now starving, being abused in so many ways. But a person who has had an experience like yours, shouldn't be like the others. You had been in the shoes of those women who opt for adoption. It amazes me to see how hypocritical some people are. I just hope I am wrong and that instead of getting pregnant twice, you and your husband rescued a child whose mother was "considerate" enough to bring into this world and not getting an abortion.

So, instead of bragging "how good person you are from bearing children just to give them away", you should think about how selfish you were when decided to bear more children. I don't know how can live with that, seriously. I can live with the fact that I got an abortion, because I know it would be the best decision for me. I know that I am not going to get pregnant ever again and if I change my mind about having children, I will definitely adopt one!

PS: Sorry if there are any mistakes.

Dear Republicana

I think I wasn't very clear about my 2 options, which were in regard of raising a child I didn't want. My 3rd option would be abortion. I never considered giving a child up for adoption. It is my right as much yours is yours. I think there are enough children waiting to be adopted and I don't need to increase that number. I would never go through a pregnancy just to give the baby away in the end. Whether you like/agree or not, it is not up to you to decide. I am 28 y/o and I can think for my self.

Let's go back to my options.

1. Stay in this country with no job, no one to help, no where to live and depend on the good will of my ex-boyfriend.

2. Go back to my home country, live with my dad, depend on the money he gets from his retirement and have no clue if my ex would help me or not. I wouldn't be able to get a job BECAUSE no one there hires a pregnant woman to give her a license of 6 months, 9 months later.

3. Get a safe abortion

I decided for the abortion. I talked to my mom, my sister, my friend and they supported me. So, you are not the one who is going to tell anything about it. You have no right to tell me if it wrong or not. It was the right thing to do - the same way that giving your children away were the right thing for you to do. If you can live with that, I can't.

But it is your life and it is not my business to tell what you should do - I expect the same.

As you can see, you got pregnant 3 times. I got only one and I do everything I can to not get pregnant again. I got smart, you on the other hand, not so much...

But again... it is your life, not mine.

There is a name for someone who knows that they are killing and still do it. Psychopath.

I believe that human beings have the right to do what they want with their bodies as long as it does not greatly impact others.

Unfortunately, abortion impacts another living human being. And that human being is too often ignored.

I would love for those who support the abortion option to tell me when life begins if not at conception. At that point, the zygote is both fully human and fully alive. Why is ok to kill another living human being at that point but not later?

Honestly sorry for Julie33, who felt like keeping her child and abortion were her only 2 options. I've been in a "unplanned" pregnancy situation THREE times in my life- twice I chose adoption (the third time I chose to raise my child as a singe mom).

I was able to preserve my fertility, and now am married with three awesome kids. I never had any complications with my pregnancies or my labors.

Seems like the pro-abortion cadre is a wilting movement. I've heard that the average age of a pro-choice person is in her 40s/50s, whereas the average prolife person is 20s/30s. It's only a matter of time before the pro-death crowd starts dying out themselves. This latest Twitter fad seems like a last-ditch attempt to reach out to a younger audience. It doesn't sound like too many of them are listening.

I really don't understand WHY some people want to tell me what I should do or not. It's MY body and MY life after all. I don't appreciate people that try to want to make any decision for me.

I think women know what abortion is, we don't need to be told - nobody thinks it is like getting a hair cut (maybe a very small percentage of women think that way, but not the majority). Otherwise we wouldn't be trying to educate people about Birth Control.

When I got pregnant, I felt really bad. I thought about all the things I would have to do to support that child - I had 2 options and none of them were good enough. I thought about going back home - since I was abroad, pregnant and with no job, having to survive with my dad's help. So, after thinking about everything, *I* decided that abortion was the best option, not only for me, but for my family and that child that would have to bring into this world otherwise. I couldn't imagine myself raising a kid without the father - whom I didn't love. My pregnancy was an accident, a nightmare and I felt relieved when it was over. I don't regret it. I regret not being more careful - but that's all.

Now I am married. I don't want to have kids. It is my decision, no one else's.

What amazes me the most is that people don't realize that it doesn't matter if you are against abortion, it is not up to you to decide. A woman will find a way to get rid of that unplanned pregnancy. If it is not legal and safe, she might die trying.
Anti-choicers should stop acting against women's choice. That just hurts. A woman should be free to do what she wants and not be made to feel guilty about it. Even if she regrets, it is not up to her to assume that all the women are going to feel the same. It is her job to spare them from that feeling. It sounds ridiculous to me. That only serves to infringes on other women's individual rights. Everybody should have the right to decide for themselves.

I know how it feels to be in the position of having to make that difficult decision. I am grateful that unlike my fellows Brazilians I had a safe option. I am grateful that I didn't have to hurt myself.

Upon reading the comments, I hear a lot of "I's" and "me's". It was the best decision for YOU but what about the babies choice? Does s/he not get a say?

What gives US the right or power to choose what has value and what doesn't?

Just because the child doesn't have 10 fingers, 10 toes, 2 eyes, 2 ears, a mouth and a nose does not mean that it is not a living being. Thats how it looks at THAT stage in life, we all had to start somewhere.

If you're building a building, you cannot skip putting up the framework before putting up the walls. The building could not stand.

Looking at how a 10 year old boy looks, and then looking at how an 80 year old man looks, they look completely different, but thats because of how they look at that stage in their life. Its the same for a developing child.

You can see the babies heartbeat on an ultrasound as early as 7 weeks. Does a heartbeat mean nothing? What about their nerve endings starting to develop around 6-8 weeks? Do they still have no feelings? What about from 9-12 weeks, they can open and close their fists...but they're not living, right?

Plants and trees do not have heartbeats, and they are living things...an unborn baby does, but we're still going to deny that thats life?

If cells are the functional basic unit of LIFE, is it not cells that begin to grow and develop the child once the sperm fertilizes the egg?

You are right, we cannot judge. No one has that right, but no one also has the right to choose who's life has more value over anothers. The only One that has that power to judge and choose is God.

The argument is that WE, the opposition of abortion, should not judge, but who gives you the right to judge who can and cannot live?

We are all here for a reason, there is a purpose for each and everyone of us, and its heartbreaking that all these unborn children, all these little angels, never got to experience life as we have, because although you argue that it is the woman's choice, there was never a choice left for that unborn child. It goes both ways.

Pro-choice feminists degrade one of women's most unique and greatest gifts; the gift of growing new life inside of them.

Posted by: hmfrancis
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The fact that I was born with a uterus does not obligate me to use it.

I am horrified that people could be so nonchalant about murdering their children! I continue to pray for those who have had abortions and those who support them in the name of advancing "women's rights." Pro-choice feminists degrade one of women's most unique and greatest gifts; the gift of growing new life inside of them.

PROCK123: "And what about the other people in their lives: the siblings of the aborted children who discover their parent's choice? or the boyfriend or husband who lives through the anniversary of the abortion date; or the grandparent who perhaps encouraged the abortion. What about them?"
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What about them?
It isn't up to children to make the decision of whether or not they will have siblings, or up to parents to make the decision of whether they will or won't become grandparents (unless the pregnant girl is a minor - then they most definitely have final say in her medical decisions).

I had an abortion ~19 years ago.
Don't like abortion? Don't have one.
Of course the reality is that catholics and fundagelicals have abortions at the same rate as liberals and atheists.

I am a female who has had an abortion. I also work as a senior counselor for a feminist, non-profit abortion clinic. While reading this ridiculous article, I had quite a few ideas of where to begin my dissent. However, let me first start by saying simply this: There is no such thing as "Post Abortion Syndrome". There are surely women who have a difficult time before and after they decide to terminate. I have counseled them and worked with them closely through these hard times. However, there are also many women (many more than the "pro-lifers" are willing to recognize)who feel relieved, grateful and (dare I say it?) even happy after their abortions. ANY of these feelings (whether sad, disappointed, angry, elated, ecstatic, apathetic, relieved, etc.) are normal and, to go even further, OKAY. It is OKAY for women to have positive feelings in regards to their abortion experience. However, it seems the people who are of the same thinking as Ms. Bean refuse to listen to these women's stories. If they do listen, many pro-lifers assume that women who feel positively about their abortions must be flawed intrinsically or psychologically. Or they assume they are "covering up" their "true" feelings of remorse and despair. It is simply ignorant and small-minded to believe this to be true.
And getting back to this whole syndrome business, please enlighten us all...where is the proof of this? Mental and physical conditions are always documented and so it is quite simple to find if a certain condition is indeed fact or fiction. Time and time again, research has disproved the idea that there exists this "Post Abortion Syndrome". Still, the pro-lifers refuse to listen to logic, reason, research and most importantly, to women themselves.
Again, yes, women can feel sad, upset, even remorseful about an abortion but right decisions can be sad or upsetting. This is true for many decisions throughout our lives. Right decisions are not always the easy decisions. But women know what is right for them, their families and their bodies. Trust them and please spare them from your judgment. If you really want to do women a favor that would be a good place to start.
On that subject, let me also say that you may tout yourselves to be a group that should not and does not "shame or stigmatize" women who have had abortions. However, let me be very clear in saying this: Your ideology and thought process is THE reason women feel shameful and stigmatized. It is THE reason why they are afraid to talk about their abortion experiences with family, with their god or even acknowledge the abortion themselves. The shame and stigma YOU create is responsible for the majority of the pain and suffering women endure when having an abortion. So, again, if you are concerned about women and their emotional state, leave them alone, and stop writing articles that clearly pegs women as immoral if they feel comfortable and satisfied with their abortion. In short, get a clue, Bean.

I am so tired of being told that my abortion changed me. I mean, it's not that it didn't---it saved me from being an unemployed teen mom at a time when I was an enormous mess in my own head from the abuse I suffered as a child---but that's not what antichoicers ever mean when they say "abortion changes you," is it. No, they mean I am hurt by my abortion yet in some way, that it was a terrible thing, and if I disagree then I just don't know it yet, "someday" I'll be sorry despite 15 years of being nothing but glad glad glad.

And then, AND THEN, you people have the gall to talk about being "real feminists"--what a joke! "Real feminists" don't tell anyone that they don't really feel what they feel, which is exactly what I get from every antichoicer to whom I've ever said "but I'm not sorry."

For women who do regret their abortions, I'm sorry, but I would never use that regret to enact a law to stop others from having the same choices they did. Aren't you right-wingers always shrilly screaming about "taking personal responsibility?" Take some. It's not the job of the "nanny state" you claim to revile to stop you from making choices you'll be sorry about. It's not the job of the "small government" of which you claim to dream to save you from regrets. As the right's very favorite brainless twit Sarah Palin might say: MAN UP. Stop talking down to me: you police your womb/life/future and I'll police mine.

I would recommend the hashtag #AbortionChangesYou because I don't believe that whether someone accepts and "moves on" with their choice to abort their unborn child or whether they struggle through their life following the decision that aren't profoundly changed by the experience. And what about the other people in their lives: the siblings of the aborted children who discover their parent's choice? or the boyfriend or husband who lives through the anniversary of the abortion date; or the grandparent who perhaps encouraged the abortion. What about them? Abortion changes them too. See how: www.AbortionChangesYou.com

The strategy of this Twitter trending is transparent: take a difficult ethical and political issue and trivialize it, by disregarding the reasons of all those who struggle with the issue on both sides of the debate.

Superficial folks may be fooled by this strategy, but thoughtful people will recognize that we cannot address difficult social problems with such superficial approaches. It does not serve the women (and men) who struggle with this issue ("What's YOUR problem? *I* don't see a problem here. It's ONLY an abortion afterall!") and it does not serve our nation's struggle to embody the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, human equality and the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Those who take this flippant approach to abortion obviously are not thinking it through, nor are they considering the damage they do to others by flaunting their casual attitude about it. Ms. Bean's position on abortion is clearly "pro-life", but even those who are "pro-choice" should shun these flippant political tactics.

The abortion I had done was the best decision for me, my partner at the time, and the child I was already raising. I have no regrets and suffered no "post-abortion syndrome."

how can one say such flippant 140 character tweets on taking of a life. The whole sentence is "A Woman's Right to Choose to Kill her baby". Why is it so inconceivable (other than denial) that life begins at conception. As it cannot become anything else but a human baby. As someone who has driven a friend (who has no ties to me now) for an abortion, it hurt us BOTH, when we read the lab report on follow up appointment - HUMAN fetal tissue. there is no other realization - HUMAN.